5 top tips for a food allergy friendly Hallowe'en!

Hallowe'en is a holiday that kids love - an opportunity to dress up AND eat sweets, why wouldn't they?!
With food allergies there is never a holiday so how do you keep your little ones safe this Hallowe'en?

1 First lay out some ground rules - make sure your child knows not to eat ANYTHING without checking with you first.

2 Keep a stash of safe sweets ready in a pocket or bag, for that moment when their friends are unwrapping goodies in between haunting the doors - kids don't like waiting when everyone else is eating!

3 Keep an eye out for looky-like foods. Lots of people buy treat sized packs of your usual goodies and the ingredients vary - Be Aware!

4 Look out for Teal Pumpkins - these are a great way of the homeowner saying they have non food gifts available.

5 Tell your little person about the Switch Witch - maybe she could take away those nasty allergen filled sweets and swop them for something nice? Or maybe give them to Mum....

Finally have a look at some of our super simple Hallowe'en treat ideas shown below for last minute spooky fun when you get home.

As here at the Hub the majority of our team are not gluten free we handed over to a fabulous Baker to test the flours for us. Gemma at SugarGems has been "baking without" professionally since she launched her business, so if anyone could put a gluten free flour blend to the test it was her. She was so impressed that she has written a gorgeous blog post that you can see HERE . If it passes a bridal taste test I think its fair to say that it was a huge hit!

Please join me in welcoming The Free From Fairy as the first member of our new "Shopping List" feature soon to appear directly on the Hub.

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Nothing beats a fabulous meal, with great company and delicious dishes – except not having to cook it, right?!

We all love being pampered or treated with a luxurious meal out of the house, but those with food allergies know how hard that can be. The fabulous folks at buyagift.co.uk have taken a big chunk of the guess work out of finding that perfect venue for anyone in your party with dietary requirements.

They have launched a guide to "eating out with a food allergy" which you can find HERE

By checking 24 Branded Restaurants, 4 independents and over 2800 venues, they have collated arguably the best guide so far to eating out with food allergies!

You can search venues by location or food type, so whether you wantgourmet burgers or fresh sushiyou’re covered.
The true genius of this guide is being able to see instantly just how many dishes you are likely to be able to select from the clear infographic that covers dietary restrictions, with an easy to readKey.

The guide also includes links to the restaurant website so you can check out any menu changes or policies.
Now, like buyagift.co.uk, we strongly suggest liaising directly with the venue of choice BUT this makes it so much easier to find exciting choices to indulge your foodie fantasies! Get browsing, and maybe buy someone special a night away from the dishes...

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Is today your first proper Monday back to normality? How is your New Year, New You thing going? Sticking to your clean living vows, enjoying Veganuary or already using the exercise bike to hang laundry on?

My point is that many of us use the New Year as an opportunity to reflect and reassess our lives – with the very best of intentions – but we make resolutions that are tough to keep in the long term.

For a newly diagnosed food allergy sufferer those resolutions are non-negotiable, no ditching them the first time you have a bad day! Avoiding the things that you know are making you ill can be a challenge but, believe me, it is not only possible but is actually getting easier too.

With the rise of the Free From food market we have access to a wider range of alternatives than ever before. Allergies regularly feature in news stories in some form. Lots of very creative people are finding ways to tackle the removal of key foods in new, exciting and tasty ways and they’re happy to share!

So our New Year’s resolution is a nice simple one (so we can keep it!)

Share the support of our growing Food Allergy network.

We will be there to share recipes, products, reviews and stories; to celebrate the highs and commiserate over the lows. Together we can help make this the year that we all made a positive difference to someone else.

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After Diagnosis of Food Allergy

We all know how mad food allergies can make us some times; they can stop us from doing so many things we love if we don’t think about it first – kissing a loved one, eating a treat, or even wearing something that makes us feel good – and that can be super tough when you’re 5 years old, but one little girl is fighting back with her own range of food allergy friendly lip glosses.

Sophia started Lil’ Wahine (Hawaiian for “Little Girl”) Organics after suffering from an anaphylactic reaction to a lip gloss that contained milk products. Sophia wanted to make a difference. It wasn’t fair that she could see all of these sparkly glosses and balms and not wear them. She didn’t sulk or strop, she got creative. With a little help she created an amazing range of gorgeous glosses with an ethical and allergy friendly ethos – you can see (and buy!) them at http://lilwahineorganics.weebly.com/contact.html

Here at Hub HQ we received some samples of Sophia’s work to review, in exchange for an honest review, and we really can’t tell you how fabulous they truly are! They are everything a girl of any age wants – a beautiful range of handmade products with simple ingredients, long lasting, and great colours.

I grabbed one of the lip stick tubes, while my girls spread the word with the squeeze tubes and pots. They, and their friends, loved the fact the pots were firm – “they feel silky, not greasy” said Bea. The colours are light and sparkly, and the peppermint oil gives not only a great fragrance but a fresh feel on your lips.

The squeeze tubes were a huge hit for junior prom – with one of the girls pointing out that now she could kiss the boys without worrying they might be allergic to her. It was a serious point,-we know a kiss can be a killer for some- but I have to confess I did have to stifle a giggle, she is only seven years old and her “boyfriend” wouldn’t hold hands because “girls are gross” so I think Daddy is spared that worry for a while! On another note the colour went on evenly from the pots and tubes. The pot balm style glosses stayed on for longer but the squeeze tubes had a higher shine.

I was a huge convert to the lip stick style gloss – it was a little firm at lower temperatures but this also meant that it didn’t turn into a mushy mess in my bag when we hit the beach. Even after a day in the water my lips felt better for having used the gloss, I didn’t suffer my usual dry salt chapped lips.

We were all pleased with the results and were thrilled to have found such a pure product – the ingredients are simply coconut oil, beeswax, peppermint essential oil, mica colouring, vitamin e and zinc oxide, all organic naturally!

The squeeze tubes were probably the best loved in our test, as they gave a slightly higher shine, although I won’t be parted from my lip stick gloss now! I loved the fact the girls could wear something with some sparkle without looking like little adults and that I could wear something that stayed put, in every circumstance. It definitely covers all ages and with the promise that they will find a recipe to work for your allergies too Lil’ Wahine is making it a bit easier to kiss and make up without worrying.